89X & TNT's I'm With The Band V3.0 Semi-Final 1

on 01 June 2009.

89X & TNT's I'm With The Band V3.0 Semi Final 1

Facture rocked their set!

The $10,000 "I'm With The Band" V3.0 contest moved closer to crowning a winner with the first of 5 Semi Final Rounds last Thursday over at TNT's in Clinton Twp in front of an exceptionally large crowd gathered to cheer on their favorite group. After a week long online voting poll that is used to determine set order (least amount of votes goes on first with the winner going on last), Seven Year Reign brought in the most votes, giving them the final slot of the night. First up on the stage was week 10 winner

Matt Austin Band was an early favorite

Facture, this hard hitting eastside band just may have had the best sound of the night, coming out with a bombastic beat that was definitely tight & clean, but finishing last in the online & door vote had them behind from the start. The Matt Austin Band, winners of week 5, hit the stage next to a roaring crowd that had MAB right in the thick of things in what will be a tightly contested door vote.

Odayin had a good sized crowd

After a shaky start, MAB quickly found it's footing amongst his screaming fans and delivered one of the best performances of the night. In the middle of the pack was week 4 winner Odayin, featuring Vinnie Dombrowski's (Sponge, Crud, Orbitsons) son Steve on guitar, dual bass players, and dual lead singers. Odayin's door vote had them right in the middle of things, in fact neck to neck with the Matt Austin Band in the door vote up to now, so Odayin needed to deliver a knockout performance to have a chance to move ahead but came up little short tonight. Half Light Music, week 1's runner-up, came on strong to finish 2^nd in the online voting and kept right on going, throwing themselves into what was now a 3 way battle for that door vote! Half Light Music didn't stop there either, turning in the hottest sounding set of the night along with a spectacular show, moving them into the stop stop with only one band left to go,

Half Light Music won the night

week 3's winner Seven Year Reign. Having won the on-line vote, you would think Seven Year Reign would be right in there with the door vote but ended up with a lackluster 4^th place finish, which lead to a lackluster performance and eliminated any chance to capture one

Seven Year Reign won the online vote

of those coveted spots in the finals on July 25^th at TNT's Bar. An extremely close call at the door coupled with an extremely close night on the stage lead to a lot of sharp pencils being broke by the judges tonight, but after the final tally was in, Half Light Music walks away with the win and will continue on towards that larger than life size check for $10,000, courtesy of TNT's! Semi-Final 2, featuring Hell Rides North, Overtow, XXX Car Ride, Flashpoint & Mystery Key, this Thursday, on line voting has begun, so click, vote, and follow up by getting out to the show and vote for your favorite at the door! DetroitRockReview.com, The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!